G-Daddy's trip

G-Daddy and Teigan

Teigan and the twins [muahaha!]

So, kind of on a whim and very last minute, my dad [aka G-Daddy] decided he just had to come and visit lil' Teigan this past weekend.  Poor mom is still recovering from her knee-replacement surgery so she was unable to come.  Fortunately for her, Dad brought along his video camera.  ;c)


Anywho, we had an absolutely fabulous time full of car washing, ice cream eating, and relaxing.  Not sure if it's the fact that Teigan is older and bigger, but G-Daddy was way more comfortable when I practically threw T his way so that I could make dinner... oh, who am I kidding?... we all know that means I just needed to pour a glass of vino!

Lakin' it

The glass of vino these days is mainly because our little lady has decided she wants to be quite a bit more fussy than she used to.  I'm completely clueless as to why, other than the fact that she's 13 weeks old today... she's older, awake more during the day, and probably going through a growth spurt.  Regardless, it definitely makes the bringing-your-infant-to-work-Monday's a bit more difficult.  I could be jumping the gun, but we're thinking she could be teething, too?  Not sure, but we'll certainly see if the doc's say anything at her three-month appointment tomorrow.

Look at my neck control!  Bamskies!

Until then, I'm doing my best to remember just how lucky we've been so far with her.  Here's to our continued success with ten-hour sleep bouts each night!


I'm going to "make dinner" now...

Fist-pumping in her sleep

I just love her... love, love, love her!  Much more to write about [mainly G-Daddy's visit this weekend], but I'm that's all for now.


PS - She's totally laughing.  Our hearts are totally melting.  I'll post a video soon!

Almost there...

If our sweet 12.5 week year old isn't belly laughing in the next week, we will be shocked!  Ben filmed this on his phone a couple days ago [how did parents survive pre-smart phone!?], but her chatti-ness is increasing by the hour. I love that we are absolutely dying for her to start talking now and in, say, five months, we will be begging for it to stop.  Muahaha!  Love you, Tiger...

Introducing... Doug's Other Honey!

The Master Beekeeper!

For those of you who know my father-in-law aka Doug/ Grandfatha'/ Mr. Secretary/ Uncle Grandpa/ That Martini Guy, you know that he is a man of many talents and more useless knowledge than any one person should ever speak of.  He is also a man of many pet projects and hobbies, but thankfully he's really stuck on one in particular these days - honey bees!

I tell ya, it's a bit... interesting?... to walk into Doug & Kathy's home seeing numerous books on "queen rearing" and "bee sex", but it's paying off!  Doug has finally unveiled his very own honey from the 55 hives he has in the rolling hills of East Tennessee - Doug's Other Honey :: Raw Wild Flower Honey!  Stock up now, folks, 'cause this stuff is ahhhh-mazing!

Watch out world, we have a man on a mission... and he's got a Gator now to prove it!

Doug's Other Honey, available from his home to yours via Avanti Savoia!

Vienna, Kasey, and... Jake!

... so I would totally write more, but OH.MY.GOSH, Jake just showed up at the Bach Pad!  This is gonna get so good [horrible]!


For those of you who know what I'm talking about, you are just as pathetic as I... so let's talk about it!  Leave me your thoughts on this addicting [and absolutely terrible] reality [crap] tv show.

Baby in a bar?

On Friday night we went and watched our good buddy's band, Kelsey's Woods, perform for First Friday at John Black Photography Studio in downtown Knoxville.  Gosh, they are so great.  I can't wait 'til I can say, "I totally knew them..." and then tell stories about our buddy that I shouldn't repeat.  Muaha!  

Post dance-off at the Kelsey's Woods show

Anywhoselbees, after Ben, Teigan, and I jammed with them for a bit [T totally loved it], we headed over to the Downtown Grill & Brewery to hang with our CrossFit Ktown amigos to celebrate the end of Death Days week at our box.  I should mention that this place is a brewery, yes, but it's, first and foremost, a restaurant that doesn't allow smoking.  I was having so much fun and then some super-loser-nasty-30-something came up to me, with a serious 'tude and said "Are you serious... a baby in a bar?".  I was absolutely shocked and seriously could have punched her in the face.  She was clearly jealous of Teigan's good looks - and the fact that our sweet T was getting more attention from the men than she was... poor, poor, mean, stupid woman.  Looks like I know where we're going every Friday night, just to spite her... ha!

One of those days...

Where's T?

So Teigan took it upon herself to let me know that she is, in fact, an infant these past couple of days.  The unrelenting crying as soon as I take her out of my arms is the main indicator.  Exhibit A: my second day back in the office [yesterday] proved to be quite the challenge as she refused to go to sleep, even though she hadn't slept all day and was clearly exhausted.  The second I put her in the pack-n-play to take a little snooze, those vocal cords got quite a little workout.  Stubborn like mommy?  Clearly.


Anyways, as I got back home to get some work done that didn't get accomplished in the office [I scooted home when she started to get fussy], she fell asleep in my arms and I took it upon myself to just put her on the couch in the TV room.  Do I win Mommy-of-the-Year award for this [especially since she's now super mobile on her back?  You'd be surprised...]?  Absolutely not... but I wasn't about to risk losing out on 45 minutes of peace and quiet by moving her to her crib.


Now, if only I could somehow grow a go-go-gadget arm and discover the planting method for a money tree - I would be set!

2011 Death Days

Hoss Daddy mid-squat clean in WOD #1 :: C-BOSS

A couple of us ladies rowing it out at the end of TEIGAN... ugh!

So every year we have an annual week of hell at CrossFit Ktown, commonly known around the box [gym] as "Death Days".  If you go to and complete all five killer WOD's [workouts], you get a t-shirt.  It's amazing how many people who randomly show up a couple times a week will suddenly be the, totally dedicated, all for a piece of cloth.  I guess we're all really just cheap at heart.


Anyways, I was in charge of coming up with the WOD yesterday.  It was programmed with the intention of having the rest of the non-preggo Ktown folks gain some understanding [and sympathy] for those that are with child.  


It's amazing that I was the first preggo Crossfitter at our box and now they're coming out of the woodworks.  I'm pretty sure there's something in the water coming out of that fountain!  I absolutely love it!  Anyways, my WOD was named Teigan...

CrossFit Ktown Death Days WOD #3 :: TEIGAN

Rowing those glorious 2,011 meters... helloooo, monkey butt!

V-ups that were part of WOD #2 :: T-PAIN

Ben, mid-burpees, during T-PAIN

I did WOD #4 aka Miss Nasty J this morning and it was, hands down, the worst one, yet.  I can't feel my right foot or calf, my arms, and it seriously kills my core if I laugh.  Oh well, one more day left... <insert I Will Survive song>

PS - Photos courtesy of CrossFit Ktown's blog and twitter pages

Everchanging faces...

We have a feeling she's going to be very animated... and a chatter box.  ;c)

Almost back to the grind...

It's bath time, well, play time after bath time... thanks for my sweet threads, Amy!

Ahh, well the time has come... I'm heading back to work tomorrow.  Fortunately I am able to have a super flexible schedule to begin with, including the ability to work from home and bring Teigan with me to the office.  It definitely makes the transition so much easier and my appreciation for what single moms/corporate employees have to go through when they go back to work has multiplied by a million.  I am honestly the luckiest gal around!  

I hope I remember to answer the phone correctly and not lead with "Teigan's poop shack, how may I help you?"

Happy 30th Birthday, Ben!

Inspired by Ben's garden, the ahhh-mazing birthday cake by the insanely beautiful & talented Regina Long!

So yesterday was Ben's 30th birthday and we had quite the day!  It sounds like the obvious plan for the day, given his age, would be to wake up at the crack of dawn, read both newspapers cover-to-cover, spend some time yelling at the neighborhood kids, hit the early-bird dinner at Cracker Barrel, and then be in bed by 7:30pm.

Much to everyone's dismay, we had other plans for his big day.  We slept in with Teigan until about 8:30a and had a relaxing morning, complete with Ben getting a fabulous massage.  Teigan and I then met up with Ben in Market Square for lunch at Soccer Taco.  Due to the insane heat, I had the grand idea of submerging her, feet first, into the water features.  She loved it.  I'm not sure the patrons on-looking thought I was the most responsible mom, but hey, my kid wasn't scarfing ice cream down her throat and running around in her underwear... <give me a few years and then maybe...>

Anyways, then we hopped on over to the Dogwood Arts offices to drop off the Pack 'n Play and Teigan's other necessities so I can slowly start to get back to work next week.  I can't believe it's already that time!  These last 10 weeks have gone by so fast!  Sigh.

Then we came home, relaxed a bit, cleaned up, and got Teigan, Hoolie, and Rica ready for their babysitters [Thank you so much, Uncle Grandpa and Grandma!].  After dropping off the ladies at their house, Ben and I headed to Ruth's Chris for some yummy dinner and a great view of the Tennessee River.  After Ben passing on his free dessert and sending it over to a table with just a father/daughter [is that not the sweetest thing, ever?], we headed to Public House, our favorite neighborhood bar.  The amazing cake above, 35-ish friends, and a few brewski's later, Ben was having the time of his life.  Thanks to everyone for helping Ben ring in his big day!

Recipes....?

Anyone in need of cucumbers, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, or pumpkins?... 'cause we have, um, about a gazillion of all of the above.  I'll UPS 'em, seriously!  Better yet, any glorious ideas of what to do with these things?  Any fabuloso recipes?

Ben in his zone

Peppers and cucumbers we get on a daily basis - Yowza!

H20... and we aren't talkin' bathtime

So full of wonder

Teigan had her fill of water-related first's this weekend... her first time in a pool and her first time in the lake!  On Friday night we went over to our friends', BJ and MK, new place in West Knoxville.  Cute home, complete with a fig tree and an in-ground pool.  Um, awesome!  After the initial shock of temperature change from 98 degrees to 85 degrees, Teigan settled right in.

Ahhh, break from the heat!

Then, Saturday mid-afternoon we headed to the lake.  It was so hot out by the water with absolutely no air movement, so we decided we would take the plunge with T, literally.  Ben and I took turns taking her in the water every half-hour, or so.

It's practically a baby nudist colony at the lake with our young one in tow!

Floating around with Daddy

She discovered her thumb this week and it's pretty much the cutest thing, ever.

Looks like, in addition to Olympic soccer player, we're adding Olympic swimmer and Olympic thumb-sucker.... ;c)

Great Uncle Russ visits

This past week we were lucky enough to have Uncle Russ stop in for an evening on his way cross-country from Washington to Georgia.  I tell ya, T has the liking's of becoming one tall lady, but will she be Uncle-Russ-tall?  I think Ben is crossing his fingers that she's close to his 6'7" so that the boys are too imitated to ask her out, ya know, before she's 30 when it's allowed.  Don't worry, T, my 5'4" in your blood can't possibly produce 6'7"... at least I don't think so...

Too tall to fit in the picture frame... muahaha!

Uncle Russ and his first great niece